Many people hear the word “serve” and feel that they do not have the necessary qualities to make a difference in others’ lives. This is true–apart from God. But He has gifted each of us in unique ways with a purpose in mind. His plan for us involves using these talents to serve Him for the good of others.

Satan would like us to believe otherwise. Our Enemy wants us to notice what others are doing and then to feel inferior. For instance, I have heard women say, “I am just a homemaker.” They see people preaching and singing in the choir and wish they could accomplish something so great for God. Friends, there could be nothing further from the truth. An enormous responsibility rests with those who train their children in righteousness.

In fact, the Holy Spirit has gifted each believer for specific work in God’s kingdom. Scripture explains this idea by a comparison with a human body: each person has gifts and purposes that make the entire system function well. But if the heel wants the eye’s role, the whole being will lose balance.

Each part is crucial, even though some are less noticeable than others. Truthfully, those with less apparent talents have an advantage because pride and self-sufficiency may be less of a temptation.

Notice how Peter defined himself: “a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:1). He was no longer a man motivated by self-interest. Once He followed Jesus, he saw himself as a servant of God. We, too, are called to serve the King of Kings with whatever abilities we are given.

 I stand confidently by the passage in the book of Leviticus that states, “Winged insects that have four feet are detestable.” I might even add that insects really in general are detestable, though maybe with the exception of fireflies or ladybugs or praying mantises—the kind of insects we are taught not to fear but to wonder at.

 But there is one kind in particular that I find worth wondering at even as I find them and their invasion thoroughly dreadful. “Periodical cicadas” emerge from their secret bug lairs every 17 years to mate and lay their eggs—500 trillion eggs to be exact. Quite detestably, they come creeping out of the ground in astonishing, invasive populations, in what is the single greatest regular outpouring of insect life on the planet. 

 For a few weeks, periodical cicadas emerge across the country in droves, dodging people and cars, devouring horticulture, and then dying in mass numbers, leaving behind their winged bodies as a stinking reminder of their brief existence and their promised return. In exactly 17 years, like clockwork, they will be back. Scientists have no idea how they mark the passage of time, how they mysteriously know to come creeping out of the ground again like miniature space invaders in a science fiction novel. As one scientific observer notes, the periodic cicada vividly reminds the world that “underneath our tidy gardens and parks lurk vestiges of untamed nature.”  

 Interestingly enough, it is the lurking presence of periodical cicadas, a presence of which we are unaware until they are restlessly stirring among us, that comes to mind whenever I consider a New Testament teaching on speaking. James teaches about the power of the tongue and its unleashed and creeping presence within our lives. And his language is just that evocative. He writes, “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (3:7). James is writing so that his audience might see in what is untamed and detestable the dire need for God’s mercy. “For with the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers, this should not be” (3:9-11).

 Christian thought makes clear a truth to which we can all testify. Words spring forth from our tongues at times unplanned and untamed. Dutch philosopher Benedict Spinoza once noted, “[E]xperience more than sufficiently teaches that people govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues.” In the Psalms, we read of destructive words emerging from hearts filled with destruction, tongues speaking deceit from throats that are open graves. The psalmist sees the connection between the emerging words and the soil of a heart, also seeing clearly our need for God to cultivate it. “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord my rock and redeemer.” It is one of our most honest and indispensable prayers—for much lurks beneath the soil.  

 Like insects whose communal emerging reminds us that all is not as tidy and peaceful as it appears within our gardens, so the tongue reminds us that much is lurking within our hearts. The tongue is a detestable creature, a restless evil. In its toxic influence we are reminded of our need for one who hears our words, quiets our tongues, and gives us a better word. We remember the God who made tame the lions that shared a den with Daniel and the ravens which brought Elijah bread both morning and night. It is this God who can tame also our tongues.  

 Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

Morning “Thou art fairer than the children of men.” Psalm 45:2

 The entire person of Jesus is but as one gem, and his life is all along but one

impression of the seal. He is altogether complete; not only in his several

parts, but as a gracious all-glorious whole. His character is not a mass of fair

colours mixed confusedly, nor a heap of precious stones laid carelessly one upon

another; he is a picture of beauty and a breastplate of glory. In him, all the

“things of good repute” are in their proper places, and assist in adorning each

other. Not one feature in his glorious person attracts attention at the expense

of others; but he is perfectly and altogether lovely.

 Oh, Jesus! thy power, thy grace, thy justice, thy tenderness, thy truth, thy

majesty, and thine immutability make up such a man, or rather such a God-man, as

neither heaven nor earth hath seen elsewhere. Thy infancy, thy eternity, thy

sufferings, thy triumphs, thy death, and thine immortality, are all woven in one

gorgeous tapestry, without seam or rent. Thou art music without discord; thou

art many, and yet not divided; thou art all things, and yet not diverse. As all

the colours blend into one resplendent rainbow, so all the glories of heaven and

earth meet in thee, and unite so wondrously, that there is none like thee in all

things; nay, if all the virtues of the most excellent were

 bound in one bundle, they could not rival thee, thou mirror of all perfection.

Thou hast been anointed with the holy oil of myrrh and cassia, which thy God

hath reserved for thee alone; and as for thy fragrance, it is as the holy

perfume, the like of which none other can ever mingle, even with the art of the

apothecary; each spice is fragrant, but the compound is divine.

 “Oh, sacred symmetry! oh, rare connection

Of many perfects, to make one perfection!

 Oh, heavenly music, where all parts do meet

 In one sweet strain, to make one perfect sweet!”

 

Evening “The foundation of God standeth sure.” 2 Timothy 2:19

 The foundation upon which our faith rests is this, that “God was in Christ

reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”

The great fact on which genuine faith relies is, that “the Word was made flesh

and dwelt among us,” and that “Christ also hath suffered for sin, the just for

the unjust, that he might bring us to God”; “Who himself bare our sins in his

own body on the tree”; “For the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by

his stripes we are healed.” In one word, the great pillar of the Christian’s

hope is substitution. The vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the guilty, Christ

being made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in

 him, Christ offering up a true and proper expiatory and substitutionary

sacrifice in the room, place, and stead of as many as the Father gave him, who

are known to God by name, and are recognized in their own hearts by their

trusting in Jesus–this is the cardinal fact of the gospel. If this foundation

were removed, what could we do? But it standeth firm as the throne of God. We

know it; we rest on it; we rejoice in it; and our delight is to hold it, to

meditate upon it, and to proclaim it, while we desire to be actuated and moved

by gratitude for it in every part of our life and conversation. In these days a

direct attack is made upon the doctrine of the atonement. Men cannot bear

 substitution. They gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing

the sin of man. But we, who know by experience the preciousness of this truth,

will proclaim it in defiance of them confidently and unceasingly. We will

neither dilute it nor change it, nor fritter it away in any shape or fashion. It

shall still be Christ, a positive substitute, bearing human guilt and suffering

in the stead of men. We cannot, dare not, give it up, for it is our life, and

despite every controversy we feel that “Nevertheless the foundation of God

standeth sure.”

 

And immediately they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:18 

 When they heard the call of Jesus, Simon and Andrew obeyed at once without hesitation. If we did likewise and punctually with resolute zeal put into practice what we hear immediately, then our attendance at the means of grace and our reading of good books could not fail to enrich us spiritually. He will not lose his loaf who has taken care to eat it immediately; neither can he be deprived of the benefit of the doctrine who has already acted upon it. Most readers and hearers become moved to decide to take action; but sadly, the proposal is a blossom that has not flowered, and as a result no fruit comes from it; they wait, they waver, and then they forget, until, like the ponds on frosty nights, when the sun shines by day, they are only thawed in time to be frozen again.

That fatal tomorrow is blood-red with the murder of good resolutions; it is the slaughterhouse of the innocents. We are very concerned that our little book of “Evening Readings” should not be fruitless, and therefore we pray that readers may not be readers only, but doers of the Word. The practice of truth is the fruit of profitable reading.

Should the reader be impressed with any duty while perusing these pages, let him be quick to fulfill it before the holy glow has departed from his soul, and let him leave his nets and all that he has rather than be found rebellious to the Master’s call. Do not give place to the devil by delay! Act while opportunity and desire are working in happy partnership. Do not be caught in your own nets, but break the meshes of worldliness, and go where glory calls you. Happy is the writer who will meet with readers resolved to carry out his teachings: His harvest will be a hundredfold, and his Master will have great honor. We can only pray that this might be our reward from these brief meditations and hurried hints. Grant it, O Lord, to Your servant!

Family Reading Plan

Isaiah 52

Revelation 22